Do I refund the seller in this case?

[Pepé]

Hi.  5 months ago I won an eBay auction.  Nearly 90 days later and many messages to the seller who could not provide me with a valid tracking number I filed and won my claim and got a full refund of $250.00   My item finally arrived this week.  The seller sent it by Sea Mail (apparently he still lives in the 1800's)  even though his lisitng said priority air mail.  

I was about to send him the Paypal payment back but then had a thought of where did my refund come from?  Did Paypal actually get the funds back from him or did they pay me out of some kind of insurance.  I want to be honest and do the right thing now that I do have the item and it's as described.  Any thoughts?

thanks!

[sharpiemarker]

The refund is from seller acct.  just send seller payment.

[DPCreations]

I'm not sure of the best action.

Would your funds return be part of the purchase transaction or be a separate sending money transaction.

Suppose you send the money back as a separate unrelated transaction and now the seller disputes the refund and shows a tracking number.  Is it possilbe PayPal would reverse the refund?  If so, that would be in addition to your private refund.

I'm just speculating as to what might happen.

[Pepé]

I would just send the payment directly to the seller minus the shipping cost.  I'm not paying for that now.  But I just want to know for sure if eBay/Paypal really took my refund from him and just didn't give it to me through buyer protection insurance.  I don't want this seller to have received two payments.  I assume Paypal can only get the money back from him if he had a balance or debit/credit card on file. but how to know for sure?

[DPCreations]

Typically PayPal will get money form a seller when the buyer is due a refund.

PayPal also has ways to  claw back funds when necessary.

[sharpiemarker]

No, PayPal uses the money you send to refund you.  When you filed the dispute the payment or money is withheld from the seller.  Since the seller could not provide proof that shipment was delivered, they do not get the money.  You can send the price of item and the actual cost of postage seller paid found on the stamp.

[SXD]

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@Pepé wrote:

I would just send the payment directly to the seller minus the shipping cost.  I'm not paying for that now.  But I just want to know for sure if eBay/Paypal really took my refund from him and just didn't give it to me through buyer protection insurance.  I don't want this seller to have received two payments.  I assume Paypal can only get the money back from him if he had a balance or debit/credit card on file. but how to know for sure?

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Gee, I can answer that for you. It might not be what you want to hear but it's my experience that makes me want to answer your post.

Every time anybody tries to scam me out of my money, PayPal's claws snatch it from  MY  account.  There is no such thing as having an "insurance" to take from when a buyer claims something is wrong with their order.  The only insurance PayPal and eBay carry is to protect themselves, not the sellers on their site.

As you said, you got the product now, so what's the question again?  
If you want to do the right thing, pay the seller.  The seller had to pay you when you filed a claim against them.   If in doubt and you really are trying to "do the right thing", get on the phone and talk to PayPal and eBay.  

[lancelotme]

Some sellers do take out insurance on their shipment,so if the buyer said I did not get the shipment,he would file claim with the insurance company.

But then he has to pay insurance premium,dont know where you seller is based.

I would pay him,as you have received what you paid for,so he should be paid. 

[DPCreations]

Was there a tracking number assoicated with the delivery? 

[sharpiemarker]

In the OP, the seller could not provide it.  They sent the pkg surface mail, instead of a trackable service.